Line attachment



July 26,1927. 1,637,174

F. B. GARLAND LINE ATTACHMENT Filed Jan. 12, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet l Fig. l U- I flvweutoz' Frank .B. Car/and 351 h abtcwmmg 1,637,174 y 1927- F. B. CARLAND LINE ATTACHMENT Filed Jan. 12, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 gvwentoz I Frank 5 far/and 3513 11/5 dawn 3 Patented July 26, 1927.

FRANK B. GARLAND, OF ELMHURST, NEW YORK.

LINE ATTACHMENT.

Application filed January 12, 1825.

This invention relates to holding attachments for flexible cords and has particular utility in connection with the support of clothes lines from points adjacent to and accessible from the windows of buildings, including apartment and attached dwelling houses.

In order to obtain clothes drying facilities which permit hanging clothes outdoors and at the same time, easy access to the clothes line from indoors, it has been found advantageous to support the clothes line in the shape of a continuous cord on pulleys, one of which is attached to an external point detached from the dwelling, and the other of which is fastened to the outside of the house adjacent the window so as to be reached through the open window.

One of the serious disadvantages of this type of clothes drying arrangement has been the danger to the operator of falling, in leaning out of the window to place the clothes on the line, this danger being important in the case of apartment houses where the occupant may reside in an upper floor. Another disadvantage of the arrangement heretofore accepted has been the necessity of exposing the person of the operator to inclement weather, in leaning out of the window during the process of hanging the clothes on the line. Other disadvantages arise from the difiiculty of moving the clothes line with safety, especially when loaded, and the difiiculty of cleaning the cord and other minor disadvantages, arising from inacessibility of the clothes line,

In order to avoid the drawbacks in the pulley type of clothes line above referred to, 1t has been proposed by prior inventors to utilize a swingin arm attached to the side of the window w ich carries at its free end a pulley attachment so that a section of the clothes line may be swung through the open window into the interior of the room and thus handled by the operator with greater ease.

In a measure, this arrangement overcomes some of the difiiculties above noted, but others remain which are disadvantageous. One of these difliculties arises from the fact that to place a bracket on the side of the window interferes with freedom of ingress and egress therefrom, a condition which in case of fire or in the case of necessity of moving articles of furniture in and through the window, as often occurs in up- Serlal No. 1,797.

per floor aparhnents, is very serious. A further disadvantage of bracketing a clothes line holder on the side of the window is that it interferes with the application of screening in thecustomary form, and a special type of window screening is essential in order not to interfere with the positioning of the bracket. Another noticeable deficiency of the bracket mentioned is that it is unsightly as viewed either from the interior or exterior of the window, a factor which is of considerable importance where clothes lmes must, on occasion, be suspended adjacent windows which it is desirable to maintain attractive.

With the above disadvantages and drawbacks of existing devices in mind, it is one of the important objects of the present invention to provide an attachment for clothes lines and the like which, while accessible from the interior of the room and movable to the exterior of the room without a window, does not interfere in any way with the freedom of passage through the window or visibility therethrough. Another important object considered is the provision of means in association with the bracket by which the angle of the movable arm may be adjusted in its external position in accordance with the position of the outside fixed support of the clothes line.

Another object involved is the provision of the type of clothes line support which may be adjustably attached to the exterior of the window or to the frame of the house adjacent the window in such a manner as to be invisible under ordinary conditions from the interior of the room and which, moreover, may be varied in its position relative to the edge of the'window to take care of any type of window frame or peculiarity of the support to which the bracket is attached. Another important object involved is the utilization in a clothes line support of the type referred to of means permitting installation on either side of the window, the device in either position being capable of, normal effective operation. Various other objects are contemplated also in the simplified construction of the parts of the attachment making it very readily movable and detachable and susceptible to the removal of the swinging arm from the fixed wall bracket; in the cord attaching means on the bracket in the nature of the pulley support at the end of the swinging arm, and varions other details relating to the contituent elements and the method of manufacture which will become apparent on consideration of the embodiment of the invention herein disclosed and which may be preferred, and to the drawings accompanying this disclosure, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my attachment applied to the side of a window as viewed from the interior thereof;

Figure 2 is a similar view of the attachment from the outside of the window;

Figure 3 is an elevation of the device in its interior position;

Figure 4 is a plan view of the device in the position of Figure 3 with parts broken away to show the adjustable holding means;

Figure 5 is a bottom plan view of the device:

Figure 6 is an end view of the attachment from the pivot end thereof;

Figure 7 is a detail of the pivot portion of the movable arm with a modified supporting means;

Figure 8 is a view of a modified form of the invention; and

Figures 9 and 10 are detailed views of the structure of Figure 8.

Referring to the drawings for detailed consideration of the invention, the attachment consists essentially of two main members. the movable swinging arm 10 and the stationary bracket support. 11, the first member being pivotally mounted on the second member. As clearly brought out in the various figures of the drawing, the movable arm consists preferably in a straight rod 12 carrying at its free end a right-angled hook 13 terminating in a screw-threaded pin to which a pulley book 14 is pivotally attached. A nut 15 retains the book 14 in position on the end of the hook 13. The hook 14 is mounted with its open side away from the end of the rod and is adapted to retain the eve 16 of a pulley block 17, this pulley forming the house end attachment for the clothes line cord 18. The other end of the cord is mounted on a fixed support (not shown) at a point exterior to the dwelling.

The bracket end of the rod 12 terminates in a right-angled off-set section 19, shown clearly in Figure 7, from which depends the pivot pin 20 at right-angles to the section 19. This construction gives an appreciable off-set to the pivot in and enables the device to be positione clear of the window opening as will be more fully explained hereinafter. The base of the pivot 20 terminates in a threaded screw 21. there being a square portion 22 between the screw and pivot adapted to retain the adjustable holdmg member as will be described later. Attached'also to the pivot pin 20 extending in a direction parallel to the off-set section 19 of the member 10, is a two-pronged book 23,

having an upper prong 24, and a lower prong 25 positioned one ahove'lhc other and above and below the supporting stem 26 of the book. The function of this hook is to provide supporting means for the clothes line when the attachment is in its outside position, and also to provide means for permitting placement of the attachment on either side of the window, as will be brought out subsequently.

The stationary bracket portion 11 is comprised in a square rod section 30 and a cylindrical pivot receiving member 31 ada ted to receive the cooperating pivot mom or 20 of the movable member 10. The pivot receiving member 31 is slightly off-set relative to the rod 30 as brought out clearly in Figure 4. in order to provide clearance for the locking or holding member, as will be brought out hereinafter. The rod 30 is adapted to have sliding engagement in the recess formed by the external wall 32 of the building. and a plate 33 secured to the wall by any suitable means and channeled across its width to receive the rod 30. The retention of the rod 30 by the plate 33, is made adjustable by means of the thumb screw 34. as shown in Figure 6 of the drawing, and by this means the pivot point of the attachment may be readily adjusted in order to accommodate itself to varying dimensions of window frames and the like. By this means also the attachment may be entirely removed from its set position.

The pivot receiving member 31 is. in general. cylindrical in outline. having a hollow central cavity to accommodate the pivot pin 20 of the movable member 10. In order to accommodate the two-pronged book 23. the pivot receiving sleeve or cylinder 11 is cut away centrally for approximately one-half the circumference, to form an arcuate openmg 35 having limiting edges 36 and 37, the cut-away portion being such as to form with the stem 26 of the book 23. a permanent stop for the rotatable movement of the member 10. This arrangement has important advantages as, will be hereinafter detailed. Insertion of the pivot pin 20 in pivot receivmg member 11 is made possible by the formation of an axial slot 38 opening into the cut-away portion 35 approximately centrally thereof. the width of this slot being greater than the width of the stem 26 of the hook 23.

The holding means for the rotatable member 10 includes a pin device. The base of the sleeve 31 is extended laterally to form a plate sector 40 having an aperture 41. the sector being fixed to the pivot member. The sector plate 40 is adapted to rest directly above a circular plate 42 containing a plurality of spaced apertures 43 similar in dimension to the aperture 41 of the fixed plate, and, in set positions, the cooperating adjacent apertures being adapted to register. For insertion in registering apertures of the fixed and rotatable plate is rovided a holding pin 45 which is prefera ly permanently fastened to the bracket member 30 by means of a flexible cord or chain 46. The plate 42 is placed in position after the insertion of the pivot pin 20 in the pivot receiving member 31, the central portion of the same being apertured and squared to fit the squared section 22 of the ivot pin and when thus assembled, the hol ing nut 47 is applied, th us retaining the complete mechanism in its proper arrangement.

structurally, it is apparent that the attachment as above described, has utmost simplicity in the number of parts and 1n the ease in which the movable portions may be assembled or se arated. This simplicity of construction maiies possible easy removal of the parts from the exterior of the building, and also facilitates shipments and in general permits greater ease in handling the attachment in its manufacture and sale. In ap lying the attachment to buildings, the side member 30 is positioned on the outside wall of the house adjacent the window but dis placed from the inner edge thereof so that when the attachment is in proper position, it will be invisible from the interior of the window. This point of attachment may be on the house wall near the outer facing of the window frame, or it may be in some instances, dependent upon the width of the frame work, on the outer edge of the win dow frame. With the bracket plate 33 in position, the stationary pivot member 11 is inserted in position and thumb screw 34 tightened at such a point as will be a propriate to the dimension of the window rame and also allow an extension of the two arm hook 23 beyond the jamb window when the movable member 10 is in the interior position. When the movable member 10 is positioned in its pivot and the holding plate 42 and nut 47 applied, the attachment is in condition for use.

Operation.

The operation of the mechanism described is simple, involving merely the movement of the movable member 10 positioned with the rod 12 extending into the room for the hanging of the clothes on the lines and subsequent positioning of the movable member at a point external to the window. Assuming that lines are empty and the operator is about to place the clothes upon the line, the movable member 10 is rotated from its outside position through the open window and the pin 45 dropped into cooperative apertures to hold the movable member 10 in the interior position. The operator then places the clothes upon the lower line in the usual manner, feeding the clothes toward'the fixed pulley at the other end of the line till the line is full. Thereu on, the operator hooks both lines through t e 11 per hook 24 of the. two-pronged hood 23 and removes the pin 45 from the apertures and rotates the movable arm 12 on its pivot until the arm is practical] Y in alignment with the line stretching to tie fixed exterior pulley support from the hook 24. This position of the rod 12 may be at right angles from the window, as shown in Figure 2 of the drawing, or it may be at any other angle depending u on the position of the fixed external clot es line su port in relation to the window.

n this adjusted position, as above indicated, the operator applies the holding pin into corresponding apertures to prevent further ivotal movement of the rod 12. In this nal position, the opening is open and unobstructed, thus avoiding any possibility of difficultarising from fire or from necessity of uti. izing the window for passage of articles in and out and permitting free application of screens and the like in a manner entirely as if the clothes line attachment were not present.

In the event that it is impossible to apply the attachment at one side of the window, for instance on the side, as shown in Figure 2, the same may be readily applied to the other side of the window b merely reversing the position of the device, the pivot 20 extending upwardly from the plane of the arm 12 instead of downwardly as shown in Figure 2. In this position, the hook 25 of the two-pronged member 23 is employed and holds the cords of the clothes line.

In connection with the pivot hook 23, attention is directed to the fact that the junction between the adjacent hooks 24 and 25 forms a V which is adapted to receive the cords as they pass around the upper hook and assist in forming a secure holding means for the clothes line ulley cords in the exterior position. It IS pointed out further, particularly as shown in Figure 2 and in dotted outline in Figure 4, that the hook 23 in its outer position is adjacent the bracket, this giving rise to a constricted opening tendin to prevent easy removal of the cord. It is a so within the scope of my invention to extend the terminals of the hooks 24 and 25 to such points relative to the support and pivot as will prevent ready removal of the cord when in the outer position.

Various modified structures may, of course, be readily employed in conjunction with my invention. For example, I may employ, as shown in Figure 7 of the drawing, instead of a slidable adjustable bracket. a fixed bracket indicated in this figure as 60. comprising a plate having a plurality of apertures 61 for attachment to the side of the building, and having an eye bolt 62 for securing the chain 46 of the pin 45. This .type of bracket, may be readily employed where there is no necessity of lateral adjustment of the pivot point.

An additional modification of the invention is shown in Figures 8, 9 and 10 of the drawing. In this modification, I utilize a simplified pivot construction and assembly as well as sim lified means for retaining the pivot arm 12 in either its inner or outer position. In accordance with this modification, a. bracket plate is employed having a pivot socket 71, divided by a middle slot 72 as in the form shown in Figure 6, in this modification, however, there being no axial slot in the socket corresponding to the slot 38 of Figure 6. The pivot pin 73 of the modified form is constructed without a plated end and is adapted to be freely inserted through one side of the pivot socket 71 and extending therethrough terminating adjacent the other side of the socket. Extending through the pivot pin in a direction approximately parallel to the section 74 of the rotatable member is an aperture 75 which is adapted to receive the narrowed end 76 of the stem of hook 23.

In the assembly of the modification a above described, the pivot pin 73 is inserted in the socket 71 and the stem terminal 7 6 of the hook terminal 23 inserted in the corresponding aperture 75 and the end of the same is then spread sufiiciently on the side of the pin opposite to the stem of the hook to prevent its removal from the aperture 75, thus efiectively assembling the pivot bracket and the rotatable pivoted member in operative position and in a manner sulficiently rigid to meet all ordinary requirements of cheapness and use.

A further distinction of this modified form over that previously described exists in the employment of two separate books 77 and 78 formed integral with the pulley end 79 of the rod 12. this construction permitting reversal of the appliance to either side of the window or opening without the necessity of rotating the book as desirable in previously described modifications. Another feature of this modification resides in the employment of simplified means for retaining the rod 12 either in its outside position or inside position, this means consisting in the employment of a flexible connection as for example a chain 80 attached to and slidable upon the rod 12 at one end and having a link or ring at its free end adapted to he slipped over the hook 81 when the rod is on the inside of the window and on the book 82 when the rod is on the outside of the window. The connection 80 is preferably slidable, as above indicated, on the rod 12 in order to make easy adjustment relative to the positions of the books 81 and 82 which may be displaced on equal distances from the pivot point. The modification as described above and shown in Figures 8, 9 and 10 of the drawing, has unquestionable advantages and simplified construction, there being only three separate elements entering into this construction, resulting in maximum ease and cheapness of assembly and diminution of material costs to their owest values. Another advantage of this modi' fied form resides in the fact that it is fool-proof in the sense that it is incapable of being improperly applied or displaced.

Various other modifications such as for example the formation of the sections 12 and 19 of the movable member 10 in a gradually rounding member instead of ri htangled as shown, and other changes wil of course, be readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains.

While I have described my invention as applied particularly to the support of clothes lines, it is, of course. obvious that the attachment may be readily used for supporting lines of various types and for a variet of difi'erent uses other than that mentione the essence of the invention being involved in the employment of a novel attachment by means of which an external line ma be drawn in part within the interior 0 the building for the suspension of articles thereupon or for other objects.

Note should be made of the fact that while the hooks 24 and 25 protrude into the window openings when the member 10 is within the building interior, in its outside position these hooks are moved completely away from this opening. Attention is also to be directed to the utility of the base of hook 23 in contacting against the edge 36 of the opening 35 when the member 10 is in the inside position, this preventing contact of the rod 12 against the window frame and thereby marring, the same. In the outside position, also, the hook stem forms a limiting means against the edge 37 of the opening 35. Emphasis should be made also of the advantage as previously intimated resulting from the wide adjustability of the device which permits locking or fastening of the rod 12 when it is in line with the clothes line. Without this advantageous construction, the operator would be under the necessity of moving the rod against the line to locking or holding position. Various other changes, modifications and advantages will be apparent! to those skilled in this par ticular art, and it is my desire, therefore, that the invention be considered in its broadest sense and not specifically to the embodiment herein described, the invent-ion being within and defined by the claims hereinafter set forth.

I desire to claim as my invention:

1. In a line attachment, the combination of a bracket having a pivot receiving member, a portion of which is removed to form an open space having limiting side walls; a movable member pivotally mounted in said pivot receiving member; the pivot of said movable member having an element afiixed thereto and projecting through the open space in said pivot receiving member; means for attaching a line to the free end of said movable member; means for holding said movable member in adjusted positions relative to the bracket; said element cooperating with the sides of the open space in said pivot receiving member to define the limiting positions of said movable member.

2. In a clothes supporting means, the combination of a pivot receiving member of approximately cylindrical formation having an arcuate aperture formed therein; a movable arm having a pivot pin extending into said pivot receiving member; a hook secured to the pivot and extending through said aperture whereby the arm has limited rotatable movement within said pivot receiving memher; a line; means for attaching the line to the free end of the arm, said hook being adapted to receive and retain an intermediate portion of said line.

3. In a line attachment adapted for use in normal or reversed positions, the combination of a support having an apertured pivot receiving socket; a pivot member in the socket; an arm attached to the pivot and rotatable therewith; a hook having opposite prongs afiixed to said pivot and extending through said aperture; means for attaching a line to said arm, said hook being adapted to receive said line and retain the same in either the normal or reversed position of said attachment.

4. In a line attachment, the combination of a support having a cylindrical pivot receiving socket, a movable arm having a pivot pin adapted to enter said socket, said socket having an aperture formed about a portion of its circumference, means for attaching a line to said movable arm, and means fixed to said pivot pin and extending through said aperture adapted to retain the pivot pin in position in its socket.

In a line attachment, the combination of a support having a pivot receiving socket,

.a movable arm having a pin adapted to enter said socket, said socket having an arcuate aperture formed therein, means for attaching a line to said movable arm, and single means including a hook secured to said pin and movable Within the walls of the socket aperture for retaining the pivot pin in its socket for forming additional holding means for the line and for limiting the extent of movement of said movable arm.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature.

FRANK B. GARLAND. 

